The Soul Mate Swap
by talkiermango502
Summary: At the stroke of midnight every New Years' Eve, every person (from the year of their 18th birthday onwards) swaps bodies with their soul mate for exactly 60 seconds. Nalu/Jerza/Gajevy/Gruvia/Baccana.
1. Chapter 1

Lucy knew exactly who her soul mate was. They had met once, years ago, and she had despised him immediately, although she was fairly certain he had no memory of their meeting. Her first impression was that he was a tool. When they had first met, they were at a college party where he was sleazing his way through all the available women. He had immediately espied her and attempted to make his way into her pants. Repulsed, Lucy had turned down his advances. He had sated his appetite with some other willing girl after which Lucy had overheard him telling his friends about his conquest. She had been furious at the boy for his callous use of women. Fortunately, they had only seen each other in passing at various college parties over the next few years. She hadn't actually put two-and-two together until a few years later.

Lucy had always been hopeful about her soul mate, she just couldn't help it. Surely he would be handsome and caring. Maybe he was a writer and full of mystery and intrigue. She had always been attracted to the intellectual types, so surely her soul mate would fit the bill. Upon her first New Year's Eve the year of her eighteenth birthday, Lucy waited with bated breath for the clock to strike midnight. This was it—she was going to finally get a glimpse of her soul mate's life and be one step closer to meeting him.

Lucy stood in the crowd with her friends as they waited for the ball to drop. They were all turning eighteen this year, so all of them would finally partake in the annual soul mate swap. All of them had mixed feelings about this momentous ritual—among them, worry was prevalent. To celebrate their coming of age, the foursome had elected to watch the ball drop after dining in the city. It was a pleasant evening. The air was crisp and salty from the nearby ocean. The crowd was rumbling anxiously.

The countdown began.

 _Ten._

Lucy smoothed her hair and tugged the hem of her skirt lower.

 _Nine._

How was her breath? She didn't want her soul mate possessing her when there was a nasty taste in her mouth. She hastily popped a mint, chewing quickly.

 _Eight._

She looked over at the anxious faces of her friends as they all huddled together, adjusting their outfits. A few spritzed themselves with perfume nervously. Juvia was nearly melting in place as she hyperventilated. Levy could be seen airing out her armpits anxiously, a terrified look on her face. Cana was taking shots, choosing to drown her fears with alcohol.

 _Seven._

It made Lucy feel better to see her friends panicking just as much as she was. She gave them a reassuring smile and reached out to squeeze Erza's hand.

 _Six._

Lucy took deep breaths, trying to steady her erratic heartbeat.

 _Five._

Was her soul mate as nervous as she was?

 _Four._

She swallowed. Panic flowing through her body.

 _Three._

She looked up at the descending ball that was counting down to this momentous moment in her life.

 _Two._

Lucy felt her hand being squeezed ruthlessly and looked aside to Erza who was grasping her anxiously. At least none of them were alone in this.

 _One._

Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath.

There was a feeling of intense pressure when suddenly her eyes popped open. She was laying slumped on a couch, her face pressed uncomfortably on its edge. It was difficult to focus her eyes. The first thing her eyes settled on was beer bottles strewn all over a living room. Lots of other people were in the room, many of whom seemed just as confused as she was as they awoke in their soul mates bodies. She made to sit upright when a wave of dizziness hit her, instantly churning her stomach.

 _Am I drunk?_ Lucy pondered. She flopped back onto the couch with a groan and closed her eyes, riding out the wave of nausea and dizziness. She tried to rise again, slower this time. She slumped against the back of the couch as she gazed down at herself in wonder. The man's body was lean. He wore a wrinkled t-shirt and baggy jeans. She gazed around the room, looking for a mirror or similar reflective surface. She slowly dragged herself to her feet, stumbling drunkenly as she tried to make her way to a bathroom. Her new body was not on her side. Sweat began to trickle down her back at the effort she was making to walk. The room around her spun faster and faster, her eyes unable to focus on anything and staring blankly ahead as she tried to focus. Lucy stumbled in her soul mate's body, bracing herself against a wall as the nausea struck her anew. She heaved, doubling over and panting as she tried to control the contents of her stomach.

Why was this happening? Why had this idiot gotten this drunk on such an important night?

Lucy continued to curse the boy as she slid to the floor, taking deep breaths and trying desperately to keep from throwing up.

 _How long has it been?_ She questioned. Close to a minute she was sure. Lucy watched at the other occupants of the room. Some were running around, trying to leave messages to their soul mate. Others seemed indifferent as they sipped on their drinks. Her head continued to spin and her stomach roiled uncomfortably. She groaned as she slumped to the side, laying like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Her body felt so heavy, she could barely control her limbs. When she did finally meet this guy, she was going to give him hell for putting her through this.

Suddenly, Lucy felt the mysterious pressure, causing her stomach to roil again as she gagged. Her gaze was hazy as she came back to consciousness in her own body. Just like that, the uncomfortable feelings of drunkenness were gone as she returned to her own body. She took a deep, cleansing breath, relishing the absence of nausea and inhaling the salty air from the nearby ocean. The crisp, tangy air soothed her, removing the last dregs of nausea she still carried from her soul mate. Lucy glanced aside to where her friends had been standing, her eyes going round as she realized she stood alone. Lucy stood in almost the exact same position she had left her body in. Did her soul mate do nothing in the minute he had swapped bodies?

It took a while to collect her friends. It seemed their soul mates had taken immediate and hasty action in the minute they were swapped. Cana was the easiest to find as she was shouting angrily for help. Lucy found the inebriated woman halfway up a flag pole, clinging for dear life. Apparently her soul mate had chosen to either place her in a safe place where he could find her or chosen to play an impractical joke on the slightly woozy woman. How he had managed to shimmy his way up that far was a mystery. Cana was less than amused as she yelled down at Lucy to stop laughing and to help her down.

Erza's soul mate had run to the nearest street sign. That was pragmatic. Presuming they were in the same city, he could have an idea of where she was located. Juvia was frantically running around collecting her clothes, which her soul mate had presumably chosen to shed. Levy had come to in the bathroom at the convenience store across the street, standing before the bathroom mirror. She was upset that her soul mate had taken immediate action to see what she had looked like. It seemed that when she came to in her soul mates body, she hadn't been as productive. Her soul mate had been out on a boat with his dog. While the view of the city had been beautiful, it had been essentially unhelpful for her to figure out her surroundings. She did make friends with the dog and managed to read his tag. She had taken great pains to memorize the phone number on the tag, which she had entered into her phone for safekeeping.

The girls debated what was to be done. Should they wait in their respective waking places and wait for their soul mates to find them—if they were even looking for them, that is. What if they came looking? But, then again, what if they didn't? They could be thousands of miles away. They could be in another country. Finally deciding not to put their night on hold, the girls chose to pick up some snacks from the convenience store and hang out at the park to discuss their first soul mate swap. The group sat at a picnic table, huddled together in excitement.

Cana was still raging that she would castrate her idiot soul mate for leaving her halfway up a flag pole. How he had even managed to shimmy up there was a mystery to all of them. It had taken quite a lot to coax the intoxicated Cana back down the pole with the promise of catching her.

Lucy sat there silently, her lips downturned. Had her soul mate forgotten the importance of tonight? Or did he just not care? Worse yet, had he intentionally drank himself into oblivion? It was their first time swapping bodies. The very least he could do is make it a decent experience for her instead of getting unbearably, wretchedly intoxicated.

Upon reaching the park, the five girls began to reveal the details of their respective experiences.

"My soul mate was watching the ball drop on TV with his family," Erza began. She blushed slightly. "His mother and father were there."

"What did they say?" Lucy queried.

"They said his name is Jellal." She smiled as she said his name for the first time. "They told me they live in Midi." She frowned slightly. Midi was about three-thousand miles away. "He's a few years older, so he's been waiting for me to come of age. They said he's been looking forward to this for a long time." She smiled brightly, blushing deeply. "They introduced me to his younger sister, Meredy. And then they asked me for my phone number and name. They said I would hear from him soon."

The girls cooed over how cute it all was as Erza blushed to the roots of her red hair. They all began to shout their theories as to what Jellal would do with Erza's phone number and how they would eventually meet. Erza hadn't had a chance to get a look at her soul mate—she had been too engrossed in her quick conversation with his parents.

Levy went next.

"When I came to, I was on a small boat outside of a city. It was terrifying!" She said, her eyes large.

"What if he was dumping a body?" Cana joked.

"Don't say that!" Levy shouted. "I made friends with his dog. It had a tag, so I memorized the phone number. I looked for his ID or cell phone, but he didn't have it on him. At least he had a chance to get a look at my face." She pouted. "He made it impossible for me to even know what he looks like. The water was too dark to see a reflection. But he had long black hair. And I think he's kind of huge."

Cana gasped.

"Levy! Did you take a peek at the junk?" Cana exclaimed, leaning over the picnic table and gripping Levy by her shoulders, shaking the little bluenette in excitement.

Levy blushed brilliantly, pulling away from the drunken woman.

"No," she groaned. "I mean he was really tall! I did _not_ look at his _junk_." She emphasized.

The girls laughed as Levy blustered.

"Your turn," Levy smirked, pointing to Cana. "Why did your guy run you up a flag pole?"

Cana laughed.

"When I came to, he was in the middle of downing a keg of beer," Cana gloated. "I guess it's true—he's my soul mate."

"So, what did you do?" Erza probed.

"I finished off the keg!" Cana exclaimed, winking. "If he wants to meet me, he'll need to work for it," she smirked wickedly. She turned to Lucy.

"Your turn," she sniggered, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"There's not much to say," Lucy said. "He was really drunk at a party. I almost threw up twice," she griped. "Ugh! Idiot!"

"Aw, Lucy, I'm sure the next time will be better," Levy placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Did he do anything when he was in your body?"

"No," Lucy answered. "I woke in the same place I left my body."

"He didn't try to see your reflection or find your location?" Erza asked.

"Nope," Lucy said. She was vexed with her soul mate. It wasn't that she was obsessed with meeting her soul mate like many young women her age were, but it would make her feel better to know he at least tried to see what she looked like or was at all interested in meeting her. And what kind of idiot gets drunk on the night of a soul mate swap?

"Fuck him," Cana declared as she took a long swig from her bottle of whiskey. "It's his loss."

"Maybe he was just disoriented," Levy concluded. "I mean, he was drunk wasn't he? And sixty seconds isn't very long. Maybe he hadn't realized what time it was and it took him a long time to comprehend what had happened."

"Thanks Levy," Lucy smiled. Maybe that was true. Lord knows it had taken her a minute to overcome the feelings of drunkenness after being in his body for a whole minute. Granted, she hadn't accomplished much in his body either. She was too busy trying not to vomit. This thought cheered her up.

Juvia told her story last.

"When Juvia came to he was ice skating in the dark and watching the fireworks," Juvia began. "And he was naked!" Her eyes were as big as saucers and a blush tinted her cheeks.

"What!" the girls squawked.

"He was only in his underwear and it was freezing!" Juvia continued.

"Your soul mate is a perv!" Cana accused, pointing at the bluenette.

"Wait, weren't you missing clothes when you returned to your body?" Erza questioned, her voice stern and eyebrows raised.

"Well, yes," Juvia answered. "Juvia was in her undershirt. Her other clothes were scattered."

"He's a stripper!" Cana exclaimed, cackling, rocking in her seat.

"He is not a stripper!" Juvia huffed, crossing her arms. "At least he didn't run Juvia up a flag pole!" she countered, raising her eyebrows in defiance.

Lucy exchanged a look with Levy. Who would have thought that a shy girl like Juvia would have a soul mate who ice skates around in the dark in nothing but his boxers and has some sort of stripping problem.

"No, but at least my soul mate isn't an exhibitionist!" Cana returned, still cackling and waving her whiskey bottle wildly. "Did you get a look at his junk?"

"No!" Juvia groaned, glaring at the girl across from her.

Cana and Juvia continued to argue back and forth about their respective soul mates as the girls decided to call it a night and they made their way back to Erza's car. It was tradition to have a movie marathon and sleepover on New Year's. Lucy's worries over her soul mate were soon pushed aside as she laughed alongside her friends. Although the first few minutes of the New Year weren't the best, she knew that the rest of the year would be great. She refused to let it be any less.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, and/or favorited. I plan to update weekly on Thursdays and I promise more chapters are on the way. I do not own Fairy Tail or any of these lovable characters.**

 **Enjoy!  
**

The following soul mate swap began much the same as the first year. The five girls were now turning nineteen and had survived their first semester at college. Many things had changed over the last year and yet somehow remained much the same. Cana was now living with her father, Gildarts, while she attended junior college. The other four girls were attending Magnolia University together and living in the dorms.

The afternoon after their first soul mate swap, Jellal had phoned Erza. He had politely introduced himself and offered his hope that his family had made her feel welcome and hadn't interrogated her too badly. After a brief conversation during which Jellal had learned a little about his red headed soul mate, he expressed his interest in getting to know her, despite the distance between them. Erza had expressed similar interest and before they even knew it, the two had patched together a long distance relationship. It had taken a while to get to know each other through phone calls, messaging, and emails, but the two had made it work. Jellal called Erza before their second soul meet swap to let her know that he had a special surprise in store for her this year. He had merely chuckled when Erza had tried to charm him into telling her the surprise.

Lucy had heard nothing from her soul mate over the last year and hadn't expected anything from their encounter. She just hoped that he had the common sense not to be roaring drunk this year. Cana was in the same boat. She sincerely hoped her lunatic of a soul mate wouldn't run her up a flag pole again and kindly asked her friends to make sure there were no climbable objects near to where they chose to watch the ball drop. Juvia just hoped she was fully dressed when she returned to her own body and made sure to put on a few extra layers, just in case.

Levy had called the phone number she had memorized from the dog's tag a few times over the last year but had always chickened out before speaking to the man on the other line. A few times she had stayed on long enough to hear his rough voice. It was incredibly deep as it resonated through the phone. Levy had immediately slammed the phone down onto the receiver, too scared to speak. It unnerved her that her soul mate had seen her face but she was still clueless as to his identity. She had his phone number and his area code put him in the same area as she lived. Had she seen him before? They may have even met. What if they had passed by each other in the past year and he knew exactly who she was? It was so unfair. She was determined to see his face this year and crossed her fingers that he was near a mirror this year.

The group of girls had dinner in the city before they picked a spot in the crowd to await the stroke of midnight. Once again, they would be watching the ball drop on the pier, but it was a lot colder than the previous year.

Erza was overcome with butterflies and her entire face was flushed. Levy was almost as anxious as she was last year, frantically airing out her armpits with a look of terror on her face. Cana was sipping her beer, trying to discretely check for flag poles that she wanted to avoid. Juvia was checking and re-checking that her clothes were all in place, hoping that the extra layers would keep her soul mate from undressing her. Lucy would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. She dreaded waking up drunk in her soul mate's body again. It had been such an unpleasant experience last year that it had turned her off from drinking for a long time. It had taken months for her to begin to forget the stomach roiling nausea and the smell of alcohol that had permeated his body.

The countdown began. Lucy watched with trepidation as the ball sank lower and lower.

 _Three._

 _Two._

 _One._

There was the familiar pressure followed by a piercing pain in her head, keeping time with the beats of her heart. Lucy's eyes were squeezed shut against the throbbing pain as she groaned in agony. Her stomach churned. She audibly gagged, trying desperately to gain control of the contents of her stomach.

Lucy was laying on something soft and comfortable. But that's where the comfort ended. She heard another noise nearby as she slowly tried to roll over beneath the blankets. The movements made her stomach churn. She tried straightening out her body. Her bare leg came into contact with flesh.

She slithered away, her eyes bulging open.

"Hello?" A feminine voice asked.

"H-hi," Lucy stuttered. She was surprised at her voice. It came out much deeper than she was used to hearing. The rumble of it sent a throb of pain through her head, which in turn caused her stomach to roil.

There was the sound of rustling followed by a click as the other person turned on a light on a bedside table. Lucy groaned as she shielded her eyes against the piercing light.

"Sorry," the other person grumbled. It sounded like they were in a similar state of agony.

Lucy finally removed her hand from her face as she took in her surroundings. She lay in a girl's bed, judging by the pink covers. She sat up slowly, remembering the pain from last year.

Naked.

Lucy was naked.

She was naked in bed with a girl.

No. Her _soul mate_ was naked in bed with another girl.

She gasped as she clutched the sheets to her chest, not immediately realizing she didn't have breasts to cover. The girl on the other side of the bed slowly sat up, the sheet falling down to her naked waist, and they eyed each other carefully.

"Um, you might want to cover up," Lucy said, gesturing to the girl's chest and looking away awkwardly.

Confused, the girl looked down at herself before realizing the situation.

"Oh," she said, pulling the sheet up and covering herself. Lucy guessed it was the girl's soul mate in her body.

Lucy tried to fight the nausea that threatened to overwhelm her once again. She pulled her knees to her chest, braced her elbows on her knees and then rested her aching head in her hands.

"Do you know who I am?" the girl in bed beside Lucy asked. Lucy slowly rolled her head to the side to look at the girl.

"Sorry, I've never seen you before," Lucy responded with a negative shake of her head, which she instantly regretted when she felt stabbing pain. "Do you know who I am?"

"No, sorry," the girl responded.

The two continued to sit in awkward silence for a moment before reality hit Lucy. She must only have a matter of seconds left before she switched back. What could she accomplish in that time?

Carefully wrapping a blanket around her soul mate's body for modesty and heaving herself from bed, she then braced herself against the waves of nausea and dizziness that hit her anew. Trying not to gag, Lucy stumbled around the room. Scattered on the floor were heaps of discarded clothing. Finding a pair of jeans, Lucy slowly knelt down. The dizziness forced her to brace a hand on the floor to keep from toppling over. Taking deep breaths, she pushed through the accompanying nausea and plopped her bottom on the floor.

In her drunken state she began to dig through the pockets of the jeans. Her hands weren't cooperating with her foggy brain and her eyes found it difficult to focus, but she eventually brushed against a wallet. With a small whoop of victory, Lucy quickly tried to extricate the wallet from the pocket, which was much more difficult than she could have ever imagined.

"Lucy, pull yourself together," she muttered to herself with a growl. Frowning, she stopped wrestling with the wallet and stared at it menacingly. Then slowly, using all of her powers of concentration, she finally managed to pull the wallet out of the pocket. In that moment, Lucy felt the mysterious pressure return, making her raging headache worse and the nausea return twofold.

No! She hadn't had a chance to look in the wallet! And now she would be caught red-handed sitting naked (albeit wrapped in a blanket) on the floor digging through a stranger's wallet. _Oh, no._

Blinking, Lucy realized she had returned to her own body. Once again, she stood in the same place she had left her body. It seems that her soul mate was no more interested in locating her than he was last year. This time she wasn't alone when she came to. Erza stood beside her, blinking in confusion.

"Are you alright, Lucy?" Erza asked.

She nodded. There were still a small remnant of nausea but she wasn't sure if it was lingering from the drunkenness or from embarrassment over being caught going through her soul mate's wallet. She was probably looking a little green.

The two girls set out to find their missing friends.

They heard angry shouting and followed its sound to the beach beside the pier. Shivering and looking like a drowned rat, Cana waded through the water, spewing profanities. Her clothes were piled at the entrance to the beach, hastily strewn in the sand. Cana stood in only her bra and underwear, an angry scowl on her face. Lucy and Erza quickly rushed around the end of the pier and onto the beach to help collect Cana's clothes and pull the bedraggled woman out of the cold ocean water.

"I'm going to kill that bastard when I find him!" Cana shouted. The water was ice cold on this chilly night. "I'm going to get him back next year," she vowed, stumbling out of the dark water.

"Lucy!"

Lucy turned to see Levy leaning over the pier, gazing down at the trio at the beach. She waved before she disappeared, making her way around to the stairs at the end of the pier.

"He left me out on a boat again!" Levy pouted, stomping her small foot in the sand once she approached the group. Lucy laughed, patting her friend on the shoulder sympathetically.

"Where's Juvia?" Erza asked. Levy shrugged.

Cana quickly pulled her pants on over her wet underwear, but elected to wander in only her blue bra. She argued it was warmer than letting her shirt get soaking wet. The foursome made their way back to the pier, calling for Juvia and taking turns calling her cell phone.

They stood in befuddlement on the pier, looking for their blue haired friend.

"What's that?" Levy asked, pointing at the ground some distance away.

Cana jogged over to have a look. She bent down and then straightened with a royal blue shirt in her hand.

"It's Juvia's!" Cana exclaimed as the girls joined her and huddled around the discarded clothing article. "That stripper of hers must have taken it off!"

"That pervert!" Erza growled. "I will teach him a lesson when we meet," she vowed.

The group stood in shock as they looked around for their now-shirtless friend.

"Knowing Juvia, she would have freaked if she found herself nearly naked in public," Levy reasoned. "She must have ducked in somewhere to hide. She might not even have her cell phone."

With this logic, the group spread out, trying to cover as much ground as possible.

Lucy searched through the stores along the pier, calling out Juvia's name as she went.

A text came through from Erza. _Found her skirt. West end of the pier._

Lucy began to make her way toward Erza, continuing to look in stores as she went.

Her phone buzzed again, this time from Levy. _Pair of shoes, look like hers. I'm near the end of the pier by the viewing area._

Where was he headed when he was in Juvia's body? Lucy had a sudden thought. Perhaps he was making his way to the restrooms near the end of the pier?

With this in mind, Lucy began to make her way out of the store and toward the restrooms, searching for discarded clothing like some sort of bread crumb trail leading her to her lost friend.

 _There!_ Lucy spied Juvia's handbag lying in a flower bed near to the entrance of the restrooms. She jogged over, quickly pulling it from beneath the small shrubs. She quickly dug through the purse. _Looks like everything is here_ , she thought. At least nothing had been stolen.

She quickly texted the rest of the girls, letting them know she'd found the purse in the flower bed by the restrooms. She received a few responses that the girls were headed her way.

Going alone, Lucy made her way to the restrooms.

"Juvia?" Lucy called, walking into the women's restroom. She peeked under the stall doors.

"Juvia, are you in here?" she called again. No bare feet stuck down where she could see. _Strange_. Lucy was sure she would be in here. _Hold on a second…._

Exiting the restroom, Lucy walked to matching door beside the ladies room. Lucy stood, deliberating for a moment at the entrance to the men's restroom.

"Lucy!" she heard Erza calling her.

"Over here!" she called back, waving across the pier at the girls who were turning on the spot, looking for the blonde.

They made their way over.

"What are you doing?" Cana asked, wondering why their blonde friend was staring intently at the men's restroom. "I think you're looking for the one to your right, blondie. Unless you have something to tell us?" she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"I-I think Juvia's soul mate might have tried to run to find a mirror but instead of running to the women's restroom…." Lucy trailed off.

"That idiot!" Erza growled.

"Juvia!" Levy called. She stood four feet from the door as if scared to come any closer.

Cana rolled her eyes.

"Oh for Mavis' sake," she said, strolling casually past Levy to pull open the door.

"Juvia!" Cana announced as she walked in, unconcerned by the few men utilizing the urinals at the time. Levy flushed red, covering her face with her hands as she quickly followed Cana. Lucy also blushed, avoiding looking at the men who turned curiously toward the women who were invading their restroom. Erza had a slight blush on her face but elected to wait in the doorway, using her body to prop the door open.

"Juvia!" Cana called, strolling through the restrooms and peeking under the stall doors.

"Cana?" they heard a trembling voice.

"Juvia!" the girls all called in unison, rushing to the stall where the voice came.

"Th-thank Mavis!" they heard Juvia shuffling behind the door as she unlocked the door. The door creaked open an inch, revealing a bright blue eye and blue hair.

"Juvia, we have your clothes," Levy reassured her, reaching out and offering the clothes to the nearly naked girl.

Juvia was flushed and her face was tear-stained.

"Th-thank you, Levy!" she warbled. Fresh tears sparkled in her eyes as she hastily took the clothes, fighting to keep the door from opening wider than she had to in order to accept the clothes.

Quickly she shut the door and the rustling of changing clothes could be heard.

"Juvia, what happened to you?" Lucy asked.

"J-Juvia does not know," Juvia wailed. "Juvia woke up in her underwear by the mirror and there were strange men around so Juvia ran into the stall to hide!"

"Oh, Juvia, we're so sorry!" Levy sympathized, clasping her hands before her chin. She really felt for the shy girl.

"Juvia wa-was so scared!" Juvia stuttered. "She didn't know where she was and she didn't have a phone."

"It's alright Juvie," Levy called to her. "It's all over now and we were able to find all of your stuff!" Levy tried to cheer her friend up.

Finally, the door opened and Juvia emerged from the stall. Her face was still tear-stained, but she was now fully clothed.

"Juvia stood on the dirty floor barefoot," she wrinkled her nose in distaste. She was still holding her shoes in her hand.

"Here," Erza said. She finally abandoned her post as door stop and quickly wet a paper towel in the sink.

"Hop up here," Cana patted the top of the sink. Quickly making sure the counter was dry, Juvia hopped up.

Erza squirted some soap onto the wet towel and handed it to the bluenette who quickly began to scrub her feet meticulously as if she was trying to scrub out the memory of the last twenty minutes. Rinsing her now soapy, but clean, feet in the sink, Juvia asked for another towel with which she dried her feet. Slipping her shoes back on, the bluenette hopped down from the sink, slightly more cheerful now that she was clean and fully clothed.

Thoroughly exhausted from their adventure, the five girls made their way to Erza's car, choosing to discuss their soul mate swap where they had access to a heater. They climbed into the small car, huddling near the vents and shivering. Erza and Levy sat in the front seats, the rest of the girls were piled in the back .Cana, who was still dressed in a jacket over her bra, began leaning across Lucy's lap as she struggled to remove her bulky coat and then reached behind her back to her bra clasp.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked, immediately suspicious of her brunette friend.

"Taking my bra off," Cana answered, unashamed, as she struggled to reach behind her in the cramped car.

"Do not strip in my car!" Erza snarled from the front seat, turning to face Cana.

"But my bra is wet!" Cana argued. "And watch where you're driving!"

"Cana, no!" Lucy squealed as the brunette continued to wrestle with her awkward position in the middle seat.

"Cana, yes!" Cana said, chuckling to herself.

Juvia and Lucy took action, immediately wrestling with their friend and shrieking for her to keep her bra on. Cana wiggled, trying to escape.

"Lucy, your boobs are smothering me!" Cana shrieked, laughing.

"Shut up about my boobs!" Lucy huffed. Cana continued to wiggle, trying to bend her arms back far enough unclasp her bra.

The trio wrestled until they were all slightly sweaty and out of breath.

"I give!" Cana relented, huffing. The girls laughed, keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't try to reach behind her again.

The group chatted animatedly on the rest of the drive home, Cana griping loudly about finding herself nearly naked in the ice cold ocean in the middle of the night and Juvia countering her with the argument of finding herself nearly naked in a men's restroom.

The group of girls finally made it back to their dorms where they quickly unloaded from the car and sprinted across the lawn, shrieking loudly from cold. Finally settling in the dormitory and pulling out the necessary chips and drinks, the girls came to rest in the small living area and turned on the TV.

"Erza, did you find out what your surprise was?" Lucy asked, choosing to interrupt her bickering friends. She had noticed that Erza had been looking at her phone a lot and guessed she was texting Jellal.

"Jellal made my favorite cake," Erza glowed. "Strawberry shortcake and he left a note." Her happiness was evident in the smile on her face.

"What did his note say?" Levy squealed.

"That he hopes we can meet by next year and maybe even spend New Year's together for the next swap," Erza said shyly, blushing red to the roots of her scarlet hair.

"Aw, good for you, Erza," Levy cooed.

"Is he texting you right now?" Lucy probed.

"Y-yes," Erza stuttered. Cana sniggered before the girls turned their attention to Juvia.

"Juvia's soul mate was at a party," Juvia began. "He was in his boxers drinking beer and there were a lot of people around."

"Pervert!" Cana snorted.

"What did you do while you were in his body?" Levy asked.

"Juvia found a mirror," Juvia said as Levy squealed in excitement. "Juvia's soul mate is gorgeous," she said smugly.

"What does he look like?" Lucy asked.

"Why is Love Rival interested?" Juvia said, beginning to exude a dark aura. Lucy put her hands up in surrender, backing away from the angry bluenette.

"I-I'm not interested, Juvia!" Lucy exclaimed. "I'm just excited that you saw your soul mate." This seemed to placate the female as her threatening aura disappeared and a smile returned to her face.

"Juvia's soul mate has black hair and dark blue eyes," Juvia continued as the girls giggled excitedly.

Cana winked conspiratorially.

"Come on, you said he was just in his boxers! You checked him out didn't you?" she said.

"He is nice to look at," Juvia said, turning rather shy. Cana guffawed. Trying to direct everyone's attention elsewhere, Juvia moved the conversation on to Levy.

"He put me on a boat again," Levy groaned. "It was the exact same as last year. When I came to, he was in the bathroom at the mirror again."

"Did he leave a note for you or anything?" Juvia asked.

"No, I don't think so," Levy frowned.

As Levy continued to mentally search for clues, the attention turned to Lucy.

"My soul mate was passed out drunk," Lucy frowned. "He was naked and in bed with a girl! And I almost threw up again!"

"Did you get a peek at his junk?" Cana asked.

"Of course not!" Lucy exclaimed. "Do you have to ask that every year?" She rolled her eyes at her friend. "I found his jeans and tried to get a look at his ID but I switched back before I had a chance to open his wallet. When he came to, I was on the floor with his wallet." She made a face. She was still embarrassed. It was sort of an unwritten rule that those who swapped shouldn't invade their soul mate's privacy too much and here she was, in his naked body and digging through his wallet.

"I applaud your stalker skills," Cana grinned.

"I wasn't stalking!" Lucy defended. She huffed out her cheeks in annoyance, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"What else did you find out?" Erza prompted.

"Nothing else," Lucy shook her head.

"You should have gotten a peek at his goods," Cana reprimanded her. "Put those stalker skills to good use," she winked.

"Ew, Cana!" Lucy groaned, blushing. "Can't you keep your perverse comments to yourself?" she begged.

"Nope," Cana grinned.

Lucy and Cana continued to bicker back and forth over the sounds of the TV, complaining loudly about their respective soul mates.

"What if we pulled a trick on them next year?" Cana suggested a while later.

The girls looked at her, eyebrows raised.

"Be serious, Cana." Levy said. "What on earth could we possibly do to them?"

"No, hold on Lev," Lucy said. "Cana is on to something here."

"Well, it seems that my soul mate's goal each year is to annoy me to death or kill me with some stupid stunt," Cana grumbled. "And Lucy's soul mate can't hold his liquor for the night. Juvia's soul mate is a perv," Juvia huffed from her spot on the couch. "And Levy, maybe your soul mate intentionally puts you on a boat each year so you can't do anything?"

"Oh! I hadn't thought of that," Levy said. "And meanwhile he's running around in my body. Do you know he didn't even have ID on him? I checked. No cell phone and no wallet. I even tried to get the boat's license number but it had been removed. Do you think it was intentional?"

"I have no doubt," Lucy said. "We have to get them back for this!"

The girls spent the rest of the night scheming and thinking up ways to get back at the boys. There was no way they were putting up with this treatment without a fight. The first rays of sunlight were just peeking over the horizon when the girls finally began to doze off. Lucy smiled around the room at her friends who were sprawled out on any available spot. She giggled to herself, thinking about the events of the last twelve hours before she finally drifted off to sleep. She was woken a few hours later by Erza yelling at Cana for spilling beer on the carpet. There was never a dull moment with these girls. Lucy laughed, watching Erza chase the still-bra-clad brunette around the dorm before Lucy pulled one of the couch pillows over her head and tried to go back to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the delay in updating! Thanks to all who reviewed. Once again, I own nothing. Enjoy.**

XXX

The girls plotted mercilessly over the next few weeks. Lucy and Cana were fueled by indignant rage at their soul mates and frequently had to be reined in by the other girls when their scheming became too dangerous or began to endanger innocent civilians.

Juvia seemed to be scarred from the entire experience and had taken to wearing even heavier, more conservative clothing. When asked why, she said she was worried that her soul mate's stripping habit might rub off on her and she never wanted to find herself naked in public ever again.

A few weeks after the soul mate swap, Levy discovered a new contact had mysteriously appeared in her phone's contact list. She had been scrolling through her contacts, looking for someone in particular when an unfamiliar name caught her eye. _Gajeel._ Who was Gajeel? She strained her memory, frowning as she went through her mental database of names and faces. Clicking on the name, Levy scrolled through the contact details. There was an unknown number listed but no last name to help her identify the owner.

 _Wait,_ Levy's attention was snagged by something at the bottom of the contact. There was a note: "Soul Mate." Her heart began to beat nervously in her chest. _So this is what he did during the soul mate swap_ , Levy thought to herself. He'd given her his number but it somehow felt like it had been a challenge.

For the rest of the day, Levy continued to glance at the contact. It was a different phone number than what she had memorized on the dog's tag a year ago. Did he change his number? Or was this merely his cell phone number?

That evening, Levy sat in the library where she kept snatching glances at her phone. She was growing frustrated. Should she text him? He had obviously extended a challenge to her. How should she respond? It was apparent she wasn't going to be able to focus on her studies tonight.

Sighing, she snatched her phone off the library table and began to draft a text to him. Finally deciding to keep it concise, she typed a messagebefore stopping to deliberate. Her heart fluttered nervously.

"Clever," the message read. She took a deep breath and then hit send, immediately putting the phone face down on the table and returning to her books. But it didn't help. Her eyes kept sneaking back to the phone and her thoughts wouldn't cooperate.

Sighing in frustration with herself, she picked up the phone and turned it over to see the screen.

"Gihi," she read off the small screen.

"Gihi?" she muttered to herself, confused. What did "gihi" mean? Was it a name? Levy frowned in confusion.

Her phone buzzed again.

"Took you a while, Shrimp," he responded.

"Shrimp?" Levy shrieked quietly to herself, indignant.

She angrily began to type, fueled by his taunt.

"I don't appreciate the nickname. I'm not seafood,"she typed and hit send.

It seemed like only a matter of seconds before she received a response.

"Gihi," he responded.

There it was again. What was "gihi?" Levy frowned, rereading the word again and again.

"You're annoying,"Levy sent. Her indignation was making her blunt.

"If you say so Shrimp,"popped up on her screen as her phone buzzed again. She could practically hear him laughing at her.

"Ugh!" Levy groaned. This man was insufferable. She was still irate that he had been toying with her during the soul mate swap. She glared at her phone.

"I'm done with this conversation. I have things to do," she punched the send button with her thumb.

"Am I distracting you, Shrimp? Gihi."His response was nearly instantaneous. _Is he laughing at me?_ Levy wondered.

"No. And stop calling me Shrimp!" She typed, grumbling to herself.

"No, I don't think I will. It suits you. Gihi." Another quick response was received.

"I have a name, you know!" Levy typed in response, rolling her eyes in aggravation.

"Actually, I don't. Or did you forget you haven't told me. Gihi." Is it possible to hear the laughter in a voice you've never heard before? Because Levy was sure this man was cackling.

"You know what, on second thought, I don't want to tell you my name," she furiously typed before hitting send.

"So you like it when I call you 'Shrimp?'" he responded.

"Levy! My name is Levy. Now stop calling me 'Shrimp!'" she hastily texted.

There was no response from Gajeel for almost a minute, during which Levy grew nervous. His responses thus far had been nearly instantaneous. Frustrated with his suddenly lengthy pause, Levy tossed her phone aside, deciding to return to her studies.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

 _I'm going to ignore it,_ Levy thought to herself. There was no need to respond to the man if he insisted on calling her "Shrimp." A few minutes later, she found herself staring at the phone. Finally giving into her curiosity, she snagged it again.

"Levy." He responded.

"I like that." A small smile lifted the corners of Levy's mouth, quickly to be wiped away by irritation.

"It suits a shrimp like you. Gihi."

"Ugh!" Levy groaned, furrowing her little blue brows. She put her face in her hand, muttering incoherently about insufferable men and ridiculous nicknames. A thought suddenly made her laugh.

"That's not fair. I don't have a nickname for you,"Levy responded in her text, a smirk making its way to her lips.

"Pudding? Dollface? How about Gajy? Gajykins?"She sent her message, her smirk growing wider and wider. She could almost feel the force of his reaction and she chuckled to herself.

"WHAT!? No. Do I look like a Dollface to you?"His response was immediate. She laughed quietly to herself, nearly forgetting she was in a library.

"Well, seeing as how you left me on a boat in the dark with no ID, phone, or mirror, I guess I don't actually know what you look like,"Levy responded in text. She quickly typed a second message. "Guess you'll just have to show me your face so I can get a better idea of a nickname for you, Kitten."

"I am not a kitten," he responded. She could almost hear him pout.

"Could have fooled me, Love Muffin." She chuckled quietly.

 _"_ How can something as tiny as a shrimp be so aggravating?" he grumbled through his text.

"You don't like my nicknames for you, Love Monkey?"she typed, giggling.

"I don't need to be insulted in this way,"he texted back.

"You brought this on yourself, Sugar," Levy replied. "While this has been a lovely conversation, I have better things to do than torment you. Bye, Monkey,"Levy typed and hit send.

"Bye for now, Shrimp," he responded.

Levy laughed to herself, returning to her studies. For the rest of the evening she would find herself spontaneously bursting into quiet chuckles as she relived her conversation with Gajeel.

When Levy returned to the dorms that evening, she found Erza and Cana had come over to the dorm she shared with Lucy. The girls were piled on the beds, huddled around a computer they were watching Netflix on, even though they were chatting animatedly over the sounds of the movie.

"Levy!" Cana hollered, waving her bottle of whiskey around her head.

"Hey Lev," Lucy waved. Erza offered the bluenette a stern nod.

"Hi!" Levy chirped as she piled her enormous load of books onto the desk by her bed. "Where's Juvia?"

Lucy gestured to the adjoining dormitory.

"She just got back from the pool," Lucy explained distractedly as she tried to keep Cana from spilling whiskey on her bed sheets.

"Juvia is here!" Juvia called from the adjoining bathroom, waving an arm and poking her head out to smile at Levy, a towel wrapped around her blue hair. Then she withdrew back into the bathroom, closing the door.

"Guys, I'm bored!" Cana whined. "Can we go out tonight?"

"Cana, it's Tuesday," Lucy frowned. "We have class in the morning and you have work."

"There's no rule that says I can't get laid on a Tuesday, Blondie," Cana smirked as Lucy's jaw dropped.

"How was the library, Levy?" Erza asked, interrupting Lucy before she could argue with Cana.

"Good!" Levy said, a slight blush making its way to her cheeks. "Um, I texted my soul mate."

The reaction was instantaneous. Erza's jaw nearly hit the floor. Cana whooped, sloshing whiskey on herself and Erza. Lucy nearly fell off the bed as she scrambled to Levy, grabbing her by her shoulders.

"How? I thought you didn't get his number? Did you meet him? What's he look like? What happened? Tell me!" Lucy's stream of questions was interrupted by Juvia walking into the room.

"Levy, what is going on?" Juvia asked, a confused expression marring her brow as she looked around at the girls while she toweled her hair. Cana was hastily mopping up her spilled whiskey from Erza's blouse under Erza's dark aura and piercing glare. Lucy was jumping on Levy, nearly strangling the poor girl.

"Levy texted her soul mate!" Lucy squealed, turning to the other bluenette.

"Juvia is so happy for Levy!" Juvia exclaimed.

"Thanks Juvia!" Levy chirped, her face still rather flushed.

"Tell us what happened!" Cana whined. She had finished cleaning up Erza's blouse and the girls' attention was solely centered on the small bluenette.

"I found a new contact in my phone," Levy began. "He put it in while we were swapped. I texted him and then he started calling me 'Shrimp!'" Levy said indignantly. "So I suggested a few nicknames I could call him. I don't think he liked them," she grinned wickedly.

Cana began cackling.

"Oh, I have some suggestions he might like," Cana winked.

"I somehow don't think those are the kinds of nicknames Levy wants to use," Lucy hastily chimed in.

"What else?" Juvia prompted.

"Nothing else, really," Levy shrugged. "I told him I had things to do and we left it at that."

"I don't believe you! Give me your phone!" Lucy attacked the small bluenette, wrestling for the phone before walking away with it victoriously raised over her head. She sat on the bed beside Cana who quickly scrambled closer to read over Lucy's shoulder.

"Guys!" Levy blushed, embarrassed.

"Are you going to keep talking to him?" Erza asked.

"I don't know," Levy said, crossing her arms and looking down at the floor.

"What does 'gihi' mean?" Lucy looked up at Levy, puzzled.

"I think it might be his laugh," Levy suggested, shrugging.

"Oh!" Lucy and Cana cooed together, cackling as they read through the messages and began to read them aloud using seductive voices.

"Could have fooled me, Love Muffin," Lucy used her best attempt at a low husky voice as she read the conversation aloud.

"Guys! Stop!" Levy pouted. "Okay, that's enough." She marched over to her friends who hurriedly stood on the bed and ran away from the angry bluenette, giggling.

Levy continued to chase the two girls around the dormitory as they laughingly read snatches of the conversation off Levy's phone, handing the phone back and forth between them as Levy blushed red and stormed after them. Juvia and Erza clambered further onto the bed, staying away from the running girls.

"Love Monkey!" Lucy cooed, laughing as she jumped onto Levy's bed to escape her flustered friend. "That's a good one!"

"I have a better one!" Cana cackled. She had collapsed onto the floor with her bottle of whiskey while the blonde and the bluenette continued to run around the dormitory. She took a swig from her whiskey bottle. "How about—"

"No! No!" Levy interrupted. "I don't think I want to hear your suggestions!"

Having finished reading the conversation, Lucy tossed the phone to Levy before collapsing onto the bed, breathing heavily. Levy was still flushed, but laughing at her friends' antics.

"He ended it with 'bye for now,' so he obviously intends to keep texting you," Lucy said from her spot on the bed.

"He was texting you back quickly too," Erza said. "He's obviously interested."

"You should send him some naked pictures," Cana suggested wickedly. "Show him the goods. Bet he'd be interested in that," she winked.

"C-Cana!" Erza shrieked, blushing. She often became uncomfortable with sexual discussions, even amongst her friends.

"Don't corrupt sweet Levy!" Lucy said, reaching over to cover Levy's ears with her hands.

"Guys!" Levy said, blushing, swatting Lucy's hands away. "Can't we have just one normal conversation without Cana's _suggestions_?" Levy groaned, hiding her blush behind her hands.

"Has Levy told Jet and Droy yet?" Juvia asked Levy, saving her from the uncomfortable conversation.

"No," Levy groaned. Before the first soul mate swap, the two boys had argued endlessly over which of them would be Levy's soul mate. They were both quite distraught that her soul mate had ended up being a stranger and eagerly tried to avoid any talk about her soul mate. However, it would probably be best if she at least let them know that she had made contact with the mysterious soul mate.

"Do they still avoid talking about it?" Erza asked sympathetically.

"Yes," Levy confirmed. She rolled her eyes slightly.

It was just like those boys to be overly dramatic about something as trivial as soul mates. Each of the boys had confessed to her a couple of years ago, feelings that Levy simply did not return. The boys still supported her and cared deeply for her no matter what. For that she was grateful. She couldn't imagine what she would do if the confessions had created awkward tension amongst them, or worse yet, torn their friendship apart.

"Guys, let's go out," Cana whined, bored with the uneventful turn in conversation.

After some bickering, Lucy agreed to take a couple of shots with Cana and in exchange, the alcoholic would concede to go home or spend the night in the girls' dorms and drop the topic of going out to the clubs. All of the girls had class in the morning and Cana had work, so a late night of drinking and dancing really wasn't in the cards for them.

Lucy and Cana disappeared into the small kitchen area of the dormitory where the sounds of girly shrieks were soon heard. Levy, Erza, and Juvia lay haphazardly on Lucy's small bed, huddled around the computer. The girls had soon given up on watching Netflix what with the loudness of Lucy and Cana's shrieks from the kitchen area but were soon engaged in animated conversation amongst themselves. Soon Lucy came blundering into the living area, just tipsy enough to be a hazard, and threw herself onto the pile of girls on the bed.

"Help me Levy," Lucy groaned, burying her face in a pillow.

"Cana! Did you give Lucy tequila again?" Erza demanded, rising from her spot on the bed. Lucy hiccupped and giggled into the pillow, muttering shrugged from her spot against the doorway, snorting as she watched Lucy struggling with her alcohol consumption. Levy reached over and gently rubbed Lucy's back, trying to calm her friend's giggles.

"Juvia, come drink!" Cana wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "We'll see if your soul mate's stripping habit has indeed rubbed off on you." She winked. Juvia clutched the top of her blouse as if fearful it would suddenly find its way off her body. Cana cackled.

Levy didn't look at her phone for the rest of the night as she spent her time laughing with her friends. Soon, Erza had ushered the girls off to bed, reminding them that reality would be waiting for them bright and early in the morning. Levy didn't even glance at her phone as she hooked it up to its cord and crawled into bed.

It wouldn't be until the following morning as she was rushing off to class—Cana's morning antics causing all the girls to run late in the morning—that she noticed a new message on her phone. Heart fluttering, a smile grew on Levy's face as she read the text from her soul mate. She took a deep breath of the crisp winter air, her smile making her eyes bright and a happy blush lighting her cheeks. Today was going to be a good day.

XXX

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Just a heads up, we will soon be delving into Natsu's backstory and his point of view during the soul mate swap. You'll finally get to understand why Natsu is the way he is. Once again, sorry for the delay. I swear I'll start updating regularly again!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I own nothing.**

 **Enjoy :)**

Levy and Lucy were fighting over use of the small mirror in their shared dormitory. It was the only mirror in their room unless they crossed the boundaries into Erza and Juvia's connected dorm—which they had learned from experience could be potentially dangerous, what with Erza's violent tendencies and warlike wrath. Seriously, who thought to design the girls' dormitories with only one mirror? Did the designers know nothing about their target audience?

"Levy, move over!" Lucy demanded. "I can't put on my eyeliner when your hair is in the way." She gently placed her hand on Levy's bouncy waves and pushed her aside. The two were normally perfectly content to share the small space, but they knew Erza would soon be coming to collect them and no one wanted Erza to get angry over their tardiness.

"No! Get your boobs out of _my_ way!" Levy snarled back, ducking around Lucy's hand. "I can't tie my bandana with your huge boobs taking up the whole mirror!"

"Don't bring my boobs into this!" Lucy squawked, folding her arms over her chest. "They aren't that big."

"They could orbit the sun and take over for Pluto," Levy replied, ducking under Lucy's raised arms as Lucy tried to lean over her to apply liquid eyeliner.

"Just squat down or something," Lucy grumbled.

"Why do I always have to be the one to duck down? Is it because I'm short?" Levy put her hands on her hips and turned to face Lucy, entirely blocking Lucy's view of the mirror.

"Fine, you're short, which is why you should duck down!" Lucy sighed, throwing her hands up in aggravation and accidentally smearing eye liner on the wall.

"Crap!" Lucy screeched.

"You'd better clean that up!" Levy chuckled, thinking she'd won the battle for dominance over the mirror.

"Not until I'm finished with my makeup," Lucy said, pushing the bluenette aside. "Move over, my _boobs_ need space."

"Lucy! You're in the way!" Levy moaned, stomping her foot, her arms akimbo as she argued with her friend.

"My, my, what have we here?" a voice drawled from the door.

The girls looked up, finding Cana leaning heavily against the door jam, a Cheshire cat grin on her face. She was dressed in a gypsy-style Halloween costume. A tight-fitting top was tied beneath her ample breasts and left her stomach bare. A loose flowing skirt was wrapped around her hips with a long slit up the side. A coin belt was tied over the skirt with dangling medallions that jangled as Cana moved.

"Need a little help with those knockers?" Cana winked, stepping forward and reaching out her hands towards Lucy's breasts. Lucy shrieked and wrapped her arms around her chest.

"We really need to get you a rape whistle," Levy muttered to Lucy, frowning.

"I trust you ladies are nearly ready," Erza said sternly, emerging from the adjoining dormitory. She was dressed in a bunny outfit that adhered tightly to her body. The piece was comprised of a black leather leotard and dark pantyhose. The look was finished off with a fluffy white cottontail and long black bunny ears atop her red hair.

"Kya! Almost!" Lucy sweated, panicking as she rushed around the small dormitory to finish assembling her maid costume.

Levy, having finally won the mirror, put the finishing touches on her costume before turning with a bright smile. Levy, at Lucy's behest, had dressed in a nerd costume. She wore a pair of snug jean shorts with a light blue and white checkered shirt tucked in. The sleeves were rolled up to her elbows. An orange bowtie was fitted around her throat and orange suspenders wrapped around her small shoulders to attach at the top of her shorts. Orange argyle socks came up to her knees and a pair of brown oxfords adorned her small feet. As a finishing touch, she had tied an orange bandana in her hair and pulled her blue locks into whimsical pigtails on the sides of her head. Oversized glasses were perched on her pert nose. Overall, she looked darling.

"Erza, you look so cute!" Levy exclaimed, checking out the other girl's outfit from her spot at the mirror.

"Thank you, Levy," Erza responded, posing slightly in her bunny costume. "I must say you make a very cute nerd."

Levy giggled as she adjusted her glasses on her small nose.

Quickly pushing the bluenette aside, Lucy stepped up to the mirror to finish her makeup. She was dressed as a maid with a short-sleeved white button down shirt topped with a tight black vest. She wore a short black skirt and white stockings that came midway up her thighs. Black pumps made her long legs look even longer. Her hair was pulled to the side in twin pigtails with long pieces left to frame her face.

"I'm ready!" Lucy finally declared, having finished her makeup and giving her pigtails one last tug.

"Juvia, we're ready to leave," Erza called through the adjoining bathroom to the room she shared with Juvia.

"Juvia is ready," Juvia huffed as she hopped into the room as she tried to put on her sparkly heels and walk simultaneously. She was dressed as a mermaid, with long, blue shimmery skirt that flared around her feet. A white bandeau wrapped around her chest with drawn-on clam shells over her breasts. Her hair fell in blue waves around her face and glittery green-blue eye shadow emphasized her features.

"Damn, Juvia, showin' off the knockers tonight?" Cana drawled, eyes on the bluenette's chest. "Or did you just catch your soul mate's stripping problem?" she questioned.

The bluenette blushed lightly.

"Juvia has not stripped since the soul mate swap," Juvia frowned at Cana, toying with her hair. "But Erza promised she would keep an eye on Juvia."

"And I shall," Erza promised.

"So will I!" Levy chirped. "We won't let you strip, Juv," she winked, linking arms with the fellow bluenette.

With that, the girls filed out of the dormitory to head to a Halloween party on the other side of campus. When they arrived, loud music pumped from speakers and many a college kid held a red cup filled with what was surely alcohol.

Cana made a beeline for the countertop that was filled with bottles of alcohol all on display and was littered with red plastic cups.

"Erza!"

The group looked up as to see Erza's friend, Mirajane waving at them with a bright smile. Erza made her way over while the rest of the girls smiled and waved at Mira. They had only met the white haired girl a few times, but were very fond of her.

Levy, Lucy, and Juvia stuck together at first, weaving their way amongst the party-goers. Lucy, who had always been a friendly person, delighted in introducing Levy and Juvia to the friends she had made in class. Levy in particular seemed to hit it off with her friends from English class as they quickly delved into conversations over books and writing. Juvia bumped into a few friends from her swim team who were also friends of Lucy's. Eventually, Erza wandered back to the main group and delved into a debate with a cocky young guy who believed that he could easily best any woman in a battle of strength. Erza confidently challenged him to a battle of his choosing and they were soon surrounded by several other guys interested in the challenge.

A ruckus from the bar soon attracted the attention of the young women, and they turned just in time to witness a guy twirling Cana's bra over his head as their drunken friend tumbled off her seat to sprawl on the floor. The girls immediately rushed over to help Cana sit up from her spot on the floor. Levy and Juvia lifted Cana and helped her hobble over to a vacant spot on a couch where Cana leaned heavily upon the arm rest, mumbling to herself.

"Juvia will stay with Cana and keep her out of trouble," Juvia announced to the other girls.

"I'll stay with you," Levy nodded. "Cana is a handful for just one person."

"We shall take turns watching Cana," Erza dictated. "Lucy and I will return in a little while to relieve you." She spoke as if it were an all-night military operation rather than babysitting their drunken friend.

In agreement, and not wanting to oppose Erza, the girls nodded. Lucy wandered off to talk to a few people she knew while Erza returned to challenge the group of guys to a competition of strength.

Soon, the girls were all distracted yet again by another loud disturbance. In the center of the commotion, Erza was easily winning an arm wrestling match, surrounded by cheering males who were sloshing their drinks all over the floors in their excitement over the action. Lucy rolled her eyes. How was it that wherever they went, her friends were always at the center of a spectacle of some sort or another. Turning away from the cheering group, Lucy went back to discussing books with a rather shy girl she had recently met.

"Hey!" Lucy shouted as someone suddenly rammed into her, making her spill her drink.

"Ice Princess! Fight me!" the person shouted. Lucy turned around to find a very drunk, pink haired boy about her age who was stumbling about in search of someone.

"Hey! When you run into someone the proper thing to do is _apologize!_ " Lucy yelled at the guy, entirely furious. She was now wearing most of her drink and her new friend was also sporting a wet stain from the spill.

The pink haired guy turned and looked at her. Then he looked her up and down.

"Hey yourself!" he slurred. "I can make it up to you," he winked.

"Tch," Lucy said in disgust, a vein popping out of her forehead in aggravation. "Get away from me you pervert."

"Come on, I'll make it worth your time," he continued to slur, leaning heavily on the wall beside her.

"Take a hint, flame brain," someone drawled. "She's not interested." Lucy looked aside to where the voice was coming from. A handsome, dark haired boy stood there, entirely shirtless. The pink haired boy turned slowly, blinking owlishly before his gaze centered on the dark haired guy.

"Fight me, Freezer Burn!" the pink haired boy snarled, stumbling closer to the dark haired guy.

"Why would I fight you when you're so drunk I could knock you down with one push?" the dark haired boy said, rolling his eyes. He crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the pink haired guy's attempts at bravado.

"You're just scared I'll kick your ass," the pink haired guy boasted, nearly face-to-face with the other.

"You can't even hold your liquor, what makes you think you can take me on?" Their foreheads were now touching as they snarled at each other.

Lucy looked aside to the girl she was talking to, who shrugged before wandering away from the commotion. Erza soon appeared beside the bickering boys.

"Are you two fighting?" she asked sharply.

"Eh—n-no!' the black haired guy quickly responded, looking at the redhead in surprise.

"None of your business," the pink haired idiot slurred. Erza glared at the boy and quickly conked him on the head with her balled fist. He groaned as he stumbled away from her, holding the egg-shaped bump on his head.

"Let's discuss your attitude," Erza said before she grabbed the pink haired boy by the ear and continued to berate him as she dragged him away from Lucy, who looked after them in shock.

"Sorry about him," Lucy turned to see the dark haired boy who was sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. "I'm Gray by the way," he finished with a small smile.

"Lucy," she smiled politely.

"That idiot over there is Natsu," Gray continued, gesturing vaguely toward the pinkette. "I take it you attend Magnolia U," Gray began. Lucy nodded. "I haven't seen you around before. What's your major?"

"English," Lucy smiled. "What about you?"

"Science," Gray responded with a shrug.

"Any specific area?" Lucy probed.

"Environmental studies. I want to study the effects of global warming on the Arctic." Gray explained.

"Wow!" Lucy exclaimed. "That's really cool."

"Yeah," he smiled sheepishly.

"So what's your costume?" Lucy asked, looking him over. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of baggy jeans.

Gray scoffed.

"I'm Marty McFly," he said as if it were entirely obvious.

Lucy eyed him critically, raising her brows.

"I think you're missing a few pieces," she said, confused.

Gray looked down at himself.

"Dammit!" he shouted, glancing around. "When did I lose my shirt?" Then he shrugged. "Whatever, I'll just lose it again," he muttered under his breath.

Lucy laughed.

"So how do you know 'flame brain' over there?" Lucy nodded toward the pink haired guy who was still facing Erza's wrath.

"We grew up together," Gray crossed his arms. "We're roommates now, but I hate him."

Lucy snorted.

"If you hate him, why are you roommates?"She asked.

"Long story," Gray shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

Lucy laughed lightly.

"Let me get you another drink since Flame Brain spilled yours all over the place," Gray offered.

"Okay!" Lucy chirped, following in the boy's wake as they made their way to the countertop bar.

"What were you drinking?" Gray asked as he browsed through the available bottles.

Lucy sniffed her glass.

"Some sort of vodka-lemonade mix, I think," Lucy responded as she gazed into the remnants of her cup as if she could determine the mixture by looking at it.

Gray snorted.

"Here, let me mix you something better." He began to quickly mix the drink, pouring it into a tumbler and shaking it before pouring it into Lucy's glass. Lucy watched in fascination at the confidence of his movements and the ease with which he mixed the drink.

"Here you go," Gray said with a smirk. "Give it a taste."

Lucy tentatively took a sip before her eyes grew round with surprise. She took a bigger sip.

"Mmm!" she said, nodding in approval.

Gray chuckled at her excitement over the drink.

"I've been training as a bartender over at Fairy Tail," he smirked.

"What's that?" Lucy asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

"It's a bar a few miles down from Magnolia U. Giant brown building, you can't miss it," he responded.

"I think Erza mentioned it a few times," Lucy said.

"Yeah, she comes in there every once in a while to see Mira," Gray explained.

"Mira works there?" Lucy asked.

"She's the main bartender and the bar manager," Gray shrugged as he mixed another drink for himself before coming around the counter to stand beside Lucy.

"I had no clue! I'll have to swing by there and check it out," Lucy winked.

"Come by next Thursday," Gray smiled. "I'll be working for most of the evening."

"I will," Lucy smiled.

"So how do you know the murderous redhead?" Gray nodded to where Erza was standing with Mira. Lucy turned to look at them before turning back to face Gray.

"We became friends in high school," Lucy explained, shrugging. "She's one of my dorm mates—lives in the dorm attached to mine. Wait—how do you know her?"

Gray shuddered.

"She's a demon," he muttered. "She comes into the bar quite often. She's always breaking up fights when they interrupt her homework." Gray shuddered again.

"She does homework at a bar?" Lucy said, raising a brow.

"You didn't know this?" Gray chuckled. "She comes in a few times a week to hang out with Mira and they usually do homework at the bar together."

"Unusual place to study," Lucy muttered as she turned to stare at the two girls. Gray laughed.

"I should go find where Flame Brain went," Gray sighed. "See you at the bar on Thursday?"

"Absolutely! Maybe I'll do my homework there," Lucy winked.

Gray laughed as he walked away.

XXX

He found his pink haired friend overwhelmed in his drunken state, slouching on the staircase outside of the dormitory. Gray stopped and watched him struggling for a while.

"You know," Gray said as he approached the pinkette. "You really need to stop drinking this much."

"Shut up, Ice Breath," Natsu whined. "I don't want to listen to your shit right now." His face was in his hands as he wobbled from his spot on the stairs, trying to let the cooler hallway air refresh him slightly.

"Lisanna wouldn't like seeing you like this," Gray said grimly.

"Don't you dare fucking bring her into this!" Natsu shouted, glaring up at the dark haired guy.

"Whatever, man," Gray shrugged. "I'm just tired of taking care of your ass when you start acting like this." He turned and walked away from the pinkette who just groaned in agony as he leaned against the wall of the stairwell. It was going to be a long night for the two.

XXX

Thinking she'd been gone for far long enough, Lucy walked back to where she had left the girls on the couch only to find that none of them were there. Making a quick round through the room, she quickly located her friends. Naturally they were at the center of yet another ruckus.

"I can take you!" Cana was shouting at the guy who still held her bra. Levy had her face in her palm and was shaking her head in aggravation at her drunken friend.

"Juvia thinks Cana should go sit down," Juvia was pleading, trying to reason with the drunken girl.

"Come on you asshole! Give me my bra back!" Cana demanded, shaking her red cup around and sloshing her drink all over.

"It was payment for a bet that _you_ lost, sweetheart," the guy responded. His hair was in a tight bun. He was shirtless with only a pair of baggy pants on. It didn't look like he had attempted to dress for Halloween.

"Bullshit! I demand a rematch," Cana growled as she stood toe-to-toe with the tall guy who just laughed in her face.

"Next time, sweetheart," he accepted, smirking.

"Cana," Erza suddenly appeared amongst the group of girls. "Go sit down." Her voice brooked no argument and Cana could only huff before allowing the other girls to drag her away to safety.

Erza turned toward the guy who sniggered as he held Cana's bra.

"You, sir, will hand over the bra this instant," Erza demanded, standing tall.

The guy laughed.

"Fat chance!"

"So be it," Erza muttered as she quickly conked the man on the head painfully. He immediately held the bra out to Erza and grasped the bump on his head in agony.

It was the early hours of morning when the girls decided to trudge home. Cana had gained much of her sobriety and was able to wobble on her own. Lucy's costume was sticky and stained from the spilled alcohol making Lucy feel disgusting. She couldn't wait to get home and shower.

"Dibs on the shower," Lucy quickly claimed the shower, arguing that she was the one wearing the most alcohol and therefore the most in need. The group trekked up the long flight of stairs to their dormitories. Cana would again be spending the night in the dormitory with the rest of the girls.

Once the group made it to the dormitory, Lucy quickly rushed into the bathroom and stripped away her grimy costume, stepping into the steaming shower and washing away the remnants of the night. She could practically feel her pores sweating out the alcohol.

Meanwhile, the rest of the girls were piled around the small dining table in Lucy and Levy's shared dorm. Cana held her face in her hands, trying to stabilize her tilting world. Levy had placed her head on the tabletop, dozing off uncomfortably. Juvia was massaging her sore feet, grimacing as she did. She regretted wearing high heels, even if they did go with her costume.

Erza was engrossed in texting Jellal. They were sharing stories from their nights. Although Jellal was not one for going out much, he had decided to go out with his twin brother, Mystogan. Erza was happy that it seemed like he had wound up having fun rather than regretting the entire night.

"Ugh!" Cana groaned. "Can you please stop flirting with your boyfriend? He's not even here and I can feel the sexual tension."

"Cana, how do you even know I'm texting him?" Erza questioned with a raised brow.

"Oh come on," Cana whined. "Just go send him some nudes. Offer him some phone sex. Just please stop flirting in front of me. I'm gonna yack."

"Cana!" Erza said as she turned violently red.

"Whoa, Cana," Levy warned, lifting her head from where she was dozing on the table. "Don't push her. I wouldn't be surprised if she had an aneurism." She watched the redhead worriedly.

"I'm done," Lucy announced as she exited the bathroom with a cloud of steam in her wake. She glanced amongst the girls at the table.

"Uh-oh, I missed something," she said as she walked past the girls and lounged on the bed to dry her hair.

"Erza's a prude," Cana declared, standing up and grabbing her overnight back. She wobbled to the bathroom to start her shower.

Erza sputtered, face still red.

Cana wandered out of the bathroom a little while later. Lucy lay on her bed as she scrolled through her phone, being slowly lulled to sleep. Eventually she curled up in a ball and fell into a slumber. The rest of the girls lazily discussed the events of the previous night as they awaited their respective turns for the bathrooms.

"Who was that guy Lucy was talking to?" Cana asked. Juvia had snuck off to the bathroom and Levy had fallen asleep at the table.

"Gray Fullbuster," Erza said. "He works at Fairy Tail, Didn't you recognize him?"

"He's the one that's always shirtless," recognition finally clicked for Cana.

Suddenly, Levy's phone buzzed, causing the bluenette to jump and clumsily grab for the phone. She stared at the bright screen for a few moments, trying to get her eyes to focus before a small smile appeared on her face.

"Ew, don't you get lovey dovey with your boyfriend too," Cana whined.

"Not my boyfriend," Levy reminded her distractedly.

"Is that Gajeel?" Juvia asked as she came out of the shower. "Tell him I say 'Hi.'" After Levy had revealed the name of her soul mate to the rest of her friends earlier that year, Juvia had started squealing. Apparently she had been childhood friends with a kid named Gajeel had and Juvia was ecstatic that the brusque guy had found a soul mate as sweet as Levy.

"Hey Shrimp. Make it home ok?" Gajeel's text to Levy read.

"Aw, were you worried, Buttercup?" Levy typed in response. The two had remained in contact since last January, but they were nowhere close to meeting. It seemed Gajeel enjoyed texting her every couple of weeks to rile Levy up. But every once in a while, entirely out of the blue, he would send a message to check up on her as if he were actually interested in her wellbeing. It always brought a smile to Levy's face.

"Why wouldn't I be? You're so short, you'd be easy to lose in a crowd." He responded. Leave it to Gajeel to cover up a cute moment with his stubbornness. Levy rolled her eyes.

"Had fun. Made it home safely. Juvia says 'Hi.' I'm about to go to sleep." She reported to him.

"I'm glad, Shrimp," he responded. _I guess that's the most romantic thing I'm going to get out of him,_ Levy thought to herself. Getting any sort of romance out of Gajeel was like pulling teeth and just about as romantic as a dentist's office.

"Night," Levy responded before she plopped her head back on the table to await her turn in the shower.

"Cana, who was that guy you were drinking with?" Erza asked as she stood up to take her turn in the shower. "And why would you even offer your bra as compensation for a bet?"

"Oh Erzy, you don't understand," Cana said, sipping a beer she had pulled from gods-know-where. "He's probably my soul mate. He's the only guy I've ever met who could possibly out-drink me," she reluctantly conceded in a rare moment of seriousness. "He would have to take off his pants if I won. I didn't think there was a chance in hell I would lose," she grumbled.

Erza chuckled as she made her way to the bathroom. "Did you get his name?"

"Nope," Cana said smugly. "Even if he is my soul mate, I'm not interested in more than a night or two with the guy."

Erza shrugged. She had always assumed as much from her friend. Cana was far too much of a free spirit to be caged by a relationship or a soul mate any time soon. Maybe one day she would settle down, but Erza guessed it would be far into the future, if at all.

Soon, all the girls had showered. Juvia and Erza said their goodbyes as they wandered back into their dormitory before quickly falling asleep. Cana curled up on the small futon at the foot of Lucy's bed as Levy crawled onto her small bed. Levy looked over to where Lucy was fast asleep, hair still wrapped in a towel and phone still in her hand. She checked her phone one last time before falling asleep.

"Don't let the bedbugs bite, Shrimp." _That man,_ Levy grumbled to herself, smiling slightly as she drifted off to sleep.

 **I gave a quick glimpse of Natsu in this chapter but the future chapters will have a lot more of his background and some of his history with Lisanna. Next update should be out next weekend. Thanks for reading! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the delay! As you know, I own nothing. Fairy Tail and these wonderful characters all belong to Hiro Mashima.**

 _"Natsu," Lisanna begged, turning off the TV and tossing the remote aside. "Come dance with me."_

 _Natsu groaned in response, not looking up from his phone. Lisanna sat tucked against Natsu's side on the couch in her family's large living area with Happy curled comfortably in her lap. She gently moved the blue feline, who gave a disgruntled meow before scampering away to find a quieter place to nap. Lisanna stood and gracefully made her way across the living room to a small set of speakers._

 _"What do you want to listen to?" Lisanna asked, turning back in askance to her boyfriend._

 _"Don't care," Natsu muttered as he checked basketball scores on his phone. It was one of the rare moments when Natsu was both silent and still. He had a few bets running with Gray, who had been texting him relentlessly throughout the evening. Natsu hadn't had a chance to respond until Lisanna's parents had left a while ago to attend a soul mate swap party in the city. Lisanna's older sister and brother had gone out for the night with friends, leaving Lisanna and Natsu home alone for the evening._

 _Lisanna went back to perusing her expanse of music, eventually deciding upon one. After a moment of fiddling, a slow melody streamed from the speakers and Lisanna turned excitedly to Natsu._

 _"Natsu, I love this song!" she exclaimed, bounding across the living room. Standing in front of her boyfriend, she reached for his hands, pulling him to his feet as he rolled his eyes._

 _"Come dance with me," she smiled._

 _"Lisanna, you know I don't dance," the pinkette groaned, letting the petite girl pull him across the room._

 _"I know for a fact that you danced on a table at the guild hall the other night," Lisanna accused._

 _"This is different," the pinkette grumbled as they came to stand in the middle of the living room._

 _"Oh, it's not so different," she smiled gently. The happiness in her blue eyes was radiant. She quickly grabbed his hands, placing one on her waist and gripping the other in her own small hand. Her other hand made its way up Natsu's broad shoulders to his neck where she gently played with his spiky pink locks. She began to sway on the spot, prompting Natsu to sway in time with her._

 _Natsu held Lisanna close as they danced in time to the quiet music pouring from the speakers. He fought the urge to pull out his phone and finish texting Gray. No, Lisanna wouldn't appreciate that. Moments like this one—slow dancing and holding each other close—were those girly things that Natsu didn't quite understand._

 _The house was otherwise quiet as the two swayed in each other's arms. Lisanna's delicate perfume swirled around the dancing pair and her short feathered hair tickled her cheekbones. She rested her head lightly against Natsu's chest as he held her tight._

 _It was a rare sight for Natsu to be content in performing such a domestic task. He was usually a ball of untamed energy that could not be contained. This raw energy was something that Lisanna had always accepted and never tried to change, for which Natsu was forever grateful._

 _Lisanna's presence calmed Natsu in a way that no one else had ever been able to do. Her quiet acceptance of him—with no expectations or judgment—brought him a sense of ease. Lisanna found his restless energy and destructive nature to be harmless and endearing. He never felt he had to put on airs for his best friend. With her, he could simply be Natsu._

 _"This is nice," Lisanna mumbled from against Natsu's chest, a smile in her voice. Natsu hummed in return. He never greatly enjoyed this sort of thing, but he knew it made Lisanna happy. Lisanna knew how he felt and it made it even more special to her that this untamable ball of energy was willing to put aside his destructive habits for a few minutes to hold her tight for the simple purpose of making her happy. Their love was a comfortable sort of love. It was the love between two best friends since childhood._

 _It had taken a while for Natsu to accept the idea of a romantic relationship between them. It all happened in their sophomore year of high school when Lisanna had broached the topic seemingly out of the blue. The two had been raised together and were the closest of friends—nearly inseparable. Natsu had always been relatively oblivious to the charms of the opposite gender—or either gender for that matter. His mind was always much too consumed with trouble-making schemes and battling his friends._

 _But Lisanna had not been as oblivious as her male counterpart. She had held an ideal future in her head since an early age and in that ideal future, she was married to the oblivious pinkette. He was what she idealized as the perfect future husband. He accepted her and protected her from any threat, no matter how great or small. When she finally broached the subject, she did not push nor did she pressure him. She simply presented the option of a slightly deeper relationship between the two that would contain the element of attraction._

 _Natsu hadn't realized that his best friend with a silly bowl cut had grown into a beautiful young woman with sparkling blue eyes and wispy hair that fanned her face. He had been unaware of her bountiful charms and had only ever seen her as his best friend who always accepted him with a kind smile and a gentle touch. But when he finally began to think about it, he realized that Lisanna was his anchor. She kept him grounded. She had been by his side during every important milestone and every obstacle and hurdle he had struggled through with her easy way and understanding demeanor. A gentle smile always graced her face, but she was strong in ways he could never fully comprehend._

 _Sure, he hadn't felt an earth-shattering sense of attraction and love for her, but he felt a certain protectiveness over her. Their love would never be explosive fireworks. It would always be comfortable and easy. Natsu came to guard her heart jealously as he knew he would never meet a more caring girl who would feel for him the things she did. Dragons were greedy creatures after all, he smirked._

 _"It's almost time," Lisanna whispered in Natsu's ear, a smile in her voice. Natsu looked up at the clock ticking away on the wall and smiled. They continued swaying to the gentle music until the clock was nearing the strike of midnight. Both Natsu and Lisanna were turning eighteen this year, which meant that this soul mate swap would be the first of many during their life together._

 _"Ten," she whispered._

 _"Nine," she raised her head, her gaze gently caressing his face._

 _"Eight," she reached her hand up and gently cupped Natsu's cheek._

 _"Seven," she gently pulled his face down to hers and kissed him, melting into it as his hands tightened on her waist._

 _"Six," she breathed, pulling apart quickly before diving back in._

 _"Five," he chuckled when she forgot to count._

 _"Four," she whispered, her breath lightly fanning his face as she pulled away._

 _"Three," she reached down for his hand and gently tangled her fingers with his._

 _"Two," Lisanna gazed up at Natsu, carefree bliss radiating from her eyes._

 _"One," he breathed, leaning forward to peck her lips one last time._

 _She pulled away, blinking rapidly in confusion. Natsu stood in the same place, looking in horror at the stranger who had swapped souls with his girlfriend and was now wearing her body as their own._

 _"Who are you?" the person in Lisanna's body pulled away from Natsu's hold. "Who am I?" they asked, reaching up to finger Lisanna's silky hair and looking down to her body._

 _"I-I'm Natsu," Natsu responded in shock before anger started to overcome the surprise. "That's Lisanna," he gestured to the person in front of him. "What do you think you're doing, swapping souls with my girlfriend?" Natsu demanded, growing angry._

 _The person shrugged Lisanna's small shoulders._

 _"I was supposed to swap with her," Natsu argued angrily at the person._

 _How was this possible? He wasn't Lisanna's soul mate? But—_

 _The gravity of the situation came crashing down. How could this even happen? It hadn't occurred to either Natsu or Lisanna that they might not be fated to be together. Had fate made a mistake?_

 _The person inside Lisanna's body was watching Natsu wearily as they hesitantly made their way towards the hallway._

 _"Third door on the right," Natsu suggested bitterly. Why did this person—this stranger—get to be Lisanna's fated soul mate?_

 _Natsu plopped onto the couch, reeling from shock as the other person made their way back to the living area._

 _"Do you have a pen and paper?" the person asked, reappearing from the hallway._

 _Natsu gestured to the kitchen. Lisanna's soul mate made their way into the kitchen where the sounds of scribbling were soon heard. There were a few seconds of silence followed by weeping._

 _"N-Natsu?" Lisanna's soft voice came from the kitchen._

 _"Lisanna," Natsu quickly stood and rushed to the kitchen. The two stood on opposite sides of the island, watching each other wearily. Tears streamed down Lisanna's cheeks as she tried to hold back her sobs. Slowly Natsu's limbs began to work again. He stumbled around the island counter to stand in front of Lisanna. With a watery sob, she stepped into his comforting embrace._

 _"I was so sure," Lisanna sobbed into Natsu's chest. Her hands fisted into the fabric of his t-shirt as her tears soaked through the material._

 _"I'm sorry, Lisanna." Natsu reassured her, gently stroking her hair as he held her tight against him._

 _Lisanna's sobs slowly came to an end as hiccups took their place._

 _Natsu grasped her hand, leading her to the couch where they nestled together on its soft cushions._

 _"What happened?" Natsu asked._

 _Lisanna hiccupped, pressed gently against his shoulder on the couch. She wiped a few stray tears from her cheek._

 _"He was at a restaurant with his friends, I think," Lisanna explained. The fact that fate had decreed Lisanna did not belong with Natsu ripped at his heart. She was his, dammit! He held back a growl. "Nothing happened," she continued. "I don't want to meet him. I already chose you. Don't I get a say?" Lisanna looked up through her lashes at her pink haired boyfriend._

 _"Of course you do, Lisanna," Natsu swore, cupping her cheek with his hand._

 _As if understanding his humans' emotional turmoil, Happy suddenly leapt onto the counter beside the couple, purring happily as he looked up at the two people he loved most._

 _"Natsu, what are we going to do?" Lisanna moaned, picking Happy up and burying her face in his blue fur._

 _"Many people choose not to meet or be with their soul mates. We can still be together. We can still be happy," Natsu said, turning to face his girlfriend and holding her hands in his._

 _Lisanna sniffled as she struggled to give a watery smile._

 _"What happened to you?" Lisanna asked. "Did you find out who your soul mate is?"_

 _"Nothing. I was kissing you and suddenly it wasn't you," Natsu made a face making Lisanna chuckle._

 _"Your soul mate must not be of age yet," Lisanna concluded. "So you like the younger girls, eh, Natsu?" she giggled lightly, making him frown._

 _"No, I like_ you _," he said seriously, a childish pout forming on his lips._

 _Lisanna moved forward and gently kissed him._

 _Natsu was happy. He had never spent much time considering what would happen if Lisanna wasn't his soul mate. He had always just assumed that it would be her. He couldn't imagine having to go through the struggle of falling in love with another person, let alone a soul mate who he didn't even know._

 _But he couldn't fight the thought that Lisanna deserved a chance to be with her soul mate. Would she be happier that way? Fate had decreed that the two were not right for each other, but what did fate know? He pondered their situation. Lisanna had been there for Natsu when his father had disappeared. She had helped him through the roughest points in his life, and in turn, Natsu had been there for Lisanna through thick and thin. So what did fate really know?_

 _That night, the two were silent as they lay together on the couch, each struggling over their own thoughts. Each one worried that by staying together they were denying the other of true happiness—the kind of happiness that only came with finding one's soul mate. But what if they chose to stay together but didn't make it? Natsu quickly shut this thought down. There was no way he and Lisanna wouldn't make it together. They had already gone through so much—he was sure they could overcome anything. Little did he know that his world would soon come crashing down around him. Blissfully unaware, Natsu held Lisanna close as the night wore on._


	6. Chapter 6

**I really struggled with this chapter and I'm still not satisfied with it, but decided to post it anyway. I just need to rip it off like a bandage instead of staring at it for another few months -_-**

 **Thank you for waiting patiently! I'm so sorry for the delay!**

 **Fairy Tail and all it's characters belong to Hiro Mashima.**

Natsu pulled the pillow over his head, trying to drown out the sound of his ringtone that was blaring in the dead of night. The fluffy pillow did little to muffle the noise. With a loud groan, Natsu rolled around, his arm outstretched as he searched the sea of pillows and blankets for his phone. His fingers finally stumbled across the cord and Natsu began to reel the phone toward him. As quick as it began, the ringing died and Natsu sighed in relief at the blissful silence, snuggling deeper into the cozy warmth of his bed. Barely a second later the phone blared once again. With a muffled curse, Natsu finished reeling in the phone. He stared blearily at the painfully bright screen, unable to read the name displayed. Fumbling, he was finally able to click the correct button to answer the call.

"Hello?" he grumbled into the phone, his greeting coming out as more of a low groan than an actual word.

"N-Natsu?" he was met with a teary, feminine voice on the other side of the line.

"Mira?" Natsu questioned, sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes. "What's wrong? Its—" he blinked owlishly at the alarm beside his bed. "Mira it's three in the morning." He rubbed his eyes which were gritty with sleep.

"Natsu," Mira sobbed. "It's Lisanna."

White hot fear froze his body. His heart stuttered to a painful stop in an instant.

"We were in a car accident," Mira wept. Her soft voice wobbled. "Sh-she's in the hospital. N-Natsu, I can't lose my baby sister." Mira dissolved into ragged sobs on the other side of the line. Natsu fisted his shaking fingers in the blanket, holding the soft material in a fierce hold.

"That's never gonna happen, Mir," Natsu swore, his voice fierce with emotion. "What hospital are you at? I'm on my way."

"Magnolia Memorial Hospital," Mira managed to choke out.

Natsu took down the information and hung up the phone, his hands shaking. A few minutes later he rushed out the door, barely remembering to put on clothes. _Where the hell are my keys?_ Natsu thought, hastily searching his messy apartment. He pawed through piles of dirty laundry, looking for the missing keys, finally finding them in yesterday's sweater.

Natsu jogged across the lawn to his rusty car, stumbling as he clambered in. The engine sputtered to life and the tires squealed as Natsu sped out of the parking lot and onto the empty streets of Magnolia.

Natsu's knuckles were white on the steering wheel, his grip painfully tight. He hadn't been able to bring himself to ask Mira what condition Lisanna was in and she hadn't offered any details. Natsu groaned in frustration as he sped along, crossing his fingers that no cops were hiding in the cover of darkness. _Hold on Lis,_ he thought.

 _I should have been there._ The thought had been rampant but the force of the thought made him gasp. _I should never have listened to her._ He gritted his teeth as he remembered their conversation the night before. Natsu had work early the next morning. Lisanna had urged Natsu to stay home for the night instead of coming to a campus party with her and her brother and sister. _Maybe…._ he cut himself off, but the thought wouldn't go away. Maybe if Natsu had gone, the night would have ended differently. _I should have been there to protect her!_ Natsu slammed his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. _I should have gone with her!_ Were a few hours of sleep worth not being there when she needed him? He could never have known it at the time, but were those few hours of sleep worth her life? He groaned in despair. _Hold on!_

Finally, Natsu saw the blinding white lights from the hospital in the distance. He squealed into the parking lot, slamming his car into park in the first space he found. Throwing open the door, he sprinted to the front doors. Locked. None of the motion sensor doors acknowledged his presence and the lobby was dark inside.

Anxiously, Natsu pulled out his phone and called Mira.

"Come on Mir, answer the damned phone!" Natsu grumbled as the first call went to voicemail. He quickly called again.

"Natsu!" Mira spoke lowly into the phone, just above a whisper.

"I'm at the front doors to the hospital but they're locked. Where are you? How do I get in?" Natsu demanded.

"We're in the emergency room. I'll come get you," Mira replied. Natsu could hear shuffling as Mira came to get him. Natsu could hear her quick footsteps on the other end of the phone. There was something comforting about hearing Mira's progress as she made her way to him.

The phone clicked and went dead.

"Natsu!" Mira called form a side door around the corner of the building. Natsu sprinted toward her voice and rushed through the door that Mira held open. She turned and wrapped him in a desperate hug, trembling as she tried to hold in her tears.

"It's going to be alright," Natsu said fiercely. "What happened? Where is Lis? Is Elfman okay?"

Mira's took a deep breath and she pulled away from Natsu's embrace, turning to lead him down the deserted hospital corridors.

"We were driving home from the campus party," Mira explained in a low voice as they walked. Her chin trembled as she spoke and she blinked furiously, trying to hold in her tears. "We were hit by another car. The doctors haven't been able to tell us much about Lisanna—something about a head injury and possible internal bleeding," she said, her voice rising in pitch. "The doctor doesn't think she will wake up." Natsu felt his blood freeze at these words. Mira suddenly stopped walking. She pressed her hand against her mouth as a small sob was torn by her throat. She bowed her head more tears flowed down her face.

Natsu stood, frozen, watching the white haired woman. This couldn't be. _Lis can't—_ Natsu cut himself off. He wouldn't finish that thought. His hands began shaking with the effort of holding himself together. He felt his heart being torn from his body as he tried to push back the roiling pain. _No. This can't happen._ He suddenly felt like he couldn't get enough air into his lungs.

Lis was so young. She was so full of life and love. Only a day ago she had been with Natsu, laughing the afternoon away. Natsu gritted his teeth as a wave of tears came to his eyes and he gasped for breath. He wanted to yell. He wanted to go in and tell the doctors they were wrong. There was no way Lisanna could be dying. They had to be wrong.

"Natsu?" Mira questioned, staring at the boy who stood beside her. She had pushed aside her tears, determined to hold herself together for Lisanna's sake. Staring at the boy beside her, she grew concerned. A vein was throbbing in his forehead and he seemed to be breathing unusually heavily.

"Natsu," Mira said, reaching over and grabbing his forearm.

"Don't!" Natsu pulled away. "You're wrong. The doctors are wrong." _This can't be._

Fresh tears swam in Mira's eyes as she watched Natsu with pity in her eyes.

"I need to speak with the doctor," Natsu said. "Where's the doctor? Where's Lis?" he asked frantically.

"Natsu, honey—"

"No," Natsu interrupted. "That can't be it. Lis can't—" he choked back a sob.

"We don't know anything for sure yet," Mira reassured him as she wiped her tears. "I don't want to lose her either," she whispered.

Natsu looked at her, his eyes losing the half-crazed, desperate gleam they had held a moment ago. "I'm sorry," he said. "I—I just need a minute." He reached out and took Mira's hand. They stood in silence for a few minutes as Natsu tried to rein in his emotions.

Natsu squeezed Mira's hand, drawing her attention. He nodded at her and they proceeded down the hallway. Natsu was still focused inwardly when he looked up, realizing they had stopped in front of the doors to the emergency room.

"Are you ready to go in?" Mira asked gently.

Natsu braced himself, nodding tersely. Mira slowly pushed open one of the wooden double doors and Natsu's brain short circuited.

The scent of bleach and antiseptics hit him like a fist in the gut, making his stomach roil painfully. The hallway was relatively silent. The soft murmur of voices could be heard behind the various curtained-off patient rooms they passed. On the far side of the emergency area was a small waiting area lined with chairs and magazine racks. The hulking form of Lisanna's older brother, Elfman, sat in one of the chairs, spiky white hair standing out like a beacon. Their parents sat beside him. All three of the Strauss family sat in silence, staring blankly ahead.

"Has the doctor come yet?" Mira asked softly, looking between the faces of her family.

"Nothing yet," her father responded, rubbing his eyes. His face was pale and drawn, eyes bloodshot. He nodded to Natsu before continuing. "She's still in surgery."

Her mother's eyes raised to meet Mira's, then slowly traveled over to Natsu. He was stricken by the pain he saw there. She stood and approached the pinkette, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Thank you for coming," she said softly. Natsu knew in that moment just how fragile the older Strauss woman was feeling. He raised his hands, hugging the woman back. The Strauss family was like a second family to him. He had spent nearly every day of his life with Lisanna and oftentimes with her family. Mrs. Strauss had been one of the most supportive people in Natsu's life when his father went missing. Natsu couldn't find words to respond at the moment; he couldn't even imagine what to say.

Mrs. Strauss pulled away from the hug, wiping small tears from her cheeks as she turned back to her seat. Mr. Strauss reached for her hand and the two sat, hands clasped desperately.

Mira folded her body onto one of the stiff hospital chairs, bringing her knees to her chest as a few silent tears tracked down her cheeks. Natsu sat between Mira and Elfman, feeling a sort of echoing numbness throughout his body. Elfman clapped a hand on Natsu's shoulder in acknowledgement. At that moment, what words could any of them share?

The clock ticked desolately on the wall ahead of Natsu. He watched, fascinated, as the second hand lapped the clock. His brain felt fuzzy. At any moment, surely, he would awaken in his bed. The silence of the waiting area was stuffy and expectant. An hour passed with barely any movement amongst the five who sat in the waiting room. The occasional sniffle could be heard as the group silently passed boxes of tissues back and forth amongst them.

"Mira," Mrs. Strauss's voice broke through the stifling silence. "Call Makarov. Let him know what happened. He'll be expecting Lis to show up for her shift." She trailed off, her voice desolate.

Mira cried silently as called Makarov, a close family friend who ran the guild where Lisanna and Mira worked. She stood and wandered down the hallway as she waited for the old man to answer the phone. Telling Makarov that Lisanna wouldn't make it to work just…it felt like she was admitting the gravity of Lisanna's precarious hold on life. It felt like she was accepting that her baby sister may not be alive tomorrow morning. She shook her head. She couldn't think like that.

"Hello?" a gruff voice answered the phone.

"It's Mira. Lis-Lisanna's been in an accident." Mira heard the old man take a sharp breath. "She's in surgery. Well, um, she's not going to make it to work tomorrow," she finished lamely, not knowing how else to say it.

"Mira!" Makarov said sharply. "That doesn't matter. What hospital are you at? How is Lisanna? I'm on my way."

Mira relayed what information she had, informing Makarov that she was at Magnolia Hospital.

As Mira finished explaining, she was met with silence from the other side for several long seconds.

A single sniffle.

"I'm on my way. Tell that little girl to hold on for me." _Click._

A few moments later, Mirajane walked back into the waiting area, fresh tear streaks staining her cheeks. Natsu stared at her numbly as she took her seat, sniffling quietly. Elfman put an arm around her, giving her a gentle squeeze.

Fifteen minutes passed in silence. It was now the early hours of morning and the faintest glow of morning could be seen from the window in the waiting room. Natsu had come to stand beside the window, staring blankly as the glow in the east grew brighter.

The group looked up when the door to the waiting room was gently pushed open, finding a doctor in surgical scrubs approaching them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Strauss?" the doctor asked gently.

"Y-yes," Mrs. Strauss stuttered she and her husband stood up, anxiously clasping hands.

Natsu eyed the doctor, noticing the strain showing around his eyes and the slump of his shoulder. Natsu felt his heart stutter in fear.

The doctor cleared his throat.

"Mr. and Mrs. Strauss," the man began. "I regret to inform you that—" he paused. "Lisanna did not survive the surgery."

 **I want to thank everyone for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following this story! Again, I'm sorry for the delay!**


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